The state of the forum?

[HOF]

We have literally made three dozen car rides to Disney over the years. The choosing of CD's basically became a ritual, as I have had some of the most important musical listening during those times. My wife used to get upset that I'd have my headphones on, but she qrealized that that was my vacation/wind down time.

I'll be honest, the iPod made it so much easier.

Probably what I’ll do at some point is invest in a dedicated MP3 player like that so I’m not at the mercy of an internet connection and also I can more carefully curate the contents. Trouble is finding something with enough storage. I know there are some more expensive products out there that might be able to handle a large amount of music but I haven’t looked into it very closely. I don’t want to have to spend a bunch of time curating another device. If I can just keep it updated with everything that’s on my main laptop I’ll be happy (that’s about 37 gigs right now).

I get that line of thinking, but the advantage of the iPhone is the unpredictability.  My iPhone has about 5,000 songs uploaded from my iTunes (all HQ mp3's), and once I plug in my phone when I get in the car, it automatically shuffles and starts playing something before I have a chance to pick something, and more often than not, I will leave on what it picks, or maybe I will hit skip if that particular song isn't appealing to me a lot at the time, except on the days when I have my heart set on listening to something specific, and I often get on kicks with bands that maybe I wouldn't have planned on listening to that particular day, and that is always fun.

I did used to have an old iPhone loaded with a bunch of music and would listen to that in the car at times. I didn’t have a Bluetooth connection and the sound wasn’t great. I also ran out of room to load music and my collection has grown a ton in the last several years. My wife’s car does have Bluetooth and the last two trips I’ve taken in it I actually did stream stuff most of the time. I had some pre-planned playlists and podcasts to listen through. Shuffle on my Amazon account is a nightmare. Just too much stuff that’s unnecessary.

I’m sure I’ll just adapt and find ways to make listening off a device enjoyable. But I do hate that it’s one less place to listen to CDs you know? Truthfully, I rip all my CDs to my home computer anyway and pretty much just listen to that at home, so I’m really kicking against the possibility of not needing CDs at all I think.

[KevShmev]

I did used to have an old iPhone loaded with a bunch of music and would listen to that in the car at times. I didn’t have a Bluetooth connection and the sound wasn’t great. I also ran out of room to load music and my collection has grown a ton in the last several years. My wife’s car does have Bluetooth and the last two trips I’ve taken in it I actually did stream stuff most of the time. I had some pre-planned playlists and podcasts to listen through. Shuffle on my Amazon account is a nightmare. Just too much stuff that’s unnecessary.

I’m sure I’ll just adapt and find ways to make listening off a device enjoyable. But I do hate that it’s one less place to listen to CDs you know? Truthfully, I rip all my CDs to my home computer anyway and pretty much just listen to that at home, so I’m really kicking against the possibility of not needing CDs at all I think.

I plug in the phone in the car rather than doing Bluetooth; it is easier to scroll through the songs on my phone on the car panel when it is actually plugged in, plus having it plugged in keeps it charging.

I was resistant for a while about moving away from CD's, but gotta roll with the times.  I still buy the occasional CD, for albums where I want a physical copy, but I still just end up ripping it to my iTunes and never listening to the physical CD, so even the rare buy almost seems unnecessary.

As far as planned trips, last fall I had to do a 3-hour trip (one way) and I did enjoy the hell out of doing Neal Morse Band's Similtude and The Great Adventure on the way there, and then all three Flying Colors albums on the way back.  That was all planned...and made for awesome drives.

[TAC]

Hopefully the next car I have has an audio jack.

[Stadler]

All three of the cars I usually drive have a jack.  Invaluable. 

[Orbert]

I'm still an iPod guy, and my last couple of cars have had a USB/iPod input in the head unit.  Required, as far as I'm concerned.

I replaced the battery and hard drive in my 2007 iPod Classic a few years ago, and now the motherboard is failing, so I started looking around.  There's a company (actually it looks like just a guy working out of his house) that makes custom solid state iPods, using SD cards.  I'm thinking of getting a Terabtye iPod.

[Phoenix87x]

My car has a CD player, but I haven't physically touched a CD in almost 15 years. My car doesn't have blue tooth though so I connect the Aux jack to the Iphone and listen to music that way. And I love it.

I mood swing like crazy, so its nice to have all my music ready on my phone and not try and guess which couple of CD's I would be in the mood to listen to.

[HOF]

My car has a CD player, but I haven't physically touched a CD in almost 15 years. My car doesn't have blue tooth though so I connect the Aux jack to the Iphone and listen to music that way. And I love it.

I mood swing like crazy, so its nice to have all my music ready on my phone and not try and guess which couple of CD's I would be in the mood to listen to.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to put my laptop on shuffle and just see what comes up. I wouldn’t mind that for car rides, especially around town. But currently my car is the place I go specifically to focus on individual albums (usually new purchases but occasionally something I haven’t heard in a while). Just been a part of my listening experience for many years now, so I’m reluctant to give it up.

[King Postwhore]

The only time that's not possible is with new vehicles.  My truck came with all the bells and whistles for audio except a CD player.  Modern world I guess.

[Lonk]

I think Subaru are one of the few cars that still include a CD player on new models.

[El Barto]

I don't miss CD players at all. I installed a jack in my car and never looked back. Planning a road trip and having to take along a 50 disk spindle of CDs pissed me off to no end.

I did used to have an old iPhone loaded with a bunch of music and would listen to that in the car at times. I didn’t have a Bluetooth connection and the sound wasn’t great. I also ran out of room to load music and my collection has grown a ton in the last several years. My wife’s car does have Bluetooth and the last two trips I’ve taken in it I actually did stream stuff most of the time. I had some pre-planned playlists and podcasts to listen through. Shuffle on my Amazon account is a nightmare. Just too much stuff that’s unnecessary.

I’m sure I’ll just adapt and find ways to make listening off a device enjoyable. But I do hate that it’s one less place to listen to CDs you know? Truthfully, I rip all my CDs to my home computer anyway and pretty much just listen to that at home, so I’m really kicking against the possibility of not needing CDs at all I think.

I plug in the phone in the car rather than doing Bluetooth; it is easier to scroll through the songs on my phone on the car panel when it is actually plugged in, plus having it plugged in keeps it charging.

I was resistant for a while about moving away from CD's, but gotta roll with the times.  I still buy the occasional CD, for albums where I want a physical copy, but I still just end up ripping it to my iTunes and never listening to the physical CD, so even the rare buy almost seems unnecessary.

As far as planned trips, last fall I had to do a 3-hour trip (one way) and I did enjoy the hell out of doing Neal Morse Band's Similtude and The Great Adventure on the way there, and then all three Flying Colors albums on the way back.  That was all planned...and made for awesome drives.

Bluetooth is hit or miss. I'm only exposed to it in rental cars, but I always have a 3.5 cable with me just in case. Sometimes it plays real nice with me. Sometimes the car likes to nag you about pointless stuff and mutes your BT audio. The last car I rented would start playing music from my phone every time I got in, whether I wanted it or not. I can't tell you how much that pissed me off. I had to disable BT on my phone to make it stop.

The downside of all of this is GPS. If you're using your phone for music and GPS it kind of sucks. I only need to be told "take the second right" once, but it starts up 2 miles away and just hounds you about it. I actually just pause my music at the two mile mark.

[ReaperKK]

I'm not even sure if my car has a CD player. I know my Mini Cooper did, but I don't think I ever used it. I have enough clutter in my car, I don't need CDs thrown into the mix.

My last car the Veloster didn't have a cd player but it did have a cool feature where you can sync it to your home network and upload music to the car's internal hard drive.

The car I just got has it's own spotify app so even if you don't bring your phone you can stream music to your car, additionally it also has a hard drive to upload music to. I'm probably the minority but I hated carting cd's around and changing them. I'm much happier just streaming albums/playlists.

[HOF]

I probably just need a new cable, but the sound quality via audio jack in my car is awful. Or it could be because it’s a 2007 model.

[KevShmev]

Bluetooth is hit or miss. I'm only exposed to it in rental cars, but I always have a 3.5 cable with me just in case. Sometimes it plays real nice with me. Sometimes the car likes to nag you about pointless stuff and mutes your BT audio. The last car I rented would start playing music from my phone every time I got in, whether I wanted it or not. I can't tell you how much that pissed me off. I had to disable BT on my phone to make it stop.

The downside of all of this is GPS. If you're using your phone for music and GPS it kind of sucks. I only need to be told "take the second right" once, but it starts up 2 miles away and just hounds you about it. I actually just pause my music at the two mile mark.

Oh man, don't get me started on that.

More than once, I have gotten in my car and started to make a call before driving and the freaking Bluetooth automatically starts playing something (when I start the car to sit there and talk before hanging up and driving).

Fortunately, my GPS/maps feature has the mute option, so I can mute the lady telling me every 19 seconds how many feet it is to my next turn for the next 11 miles. 

[bl5150]

I have a Lexus RX (from 2008) that must've been the last car ever made to have a tape deck 

[faizoff]

I bought a kenwood car stereo a few years back and couldn't a good deal on them, all the bluetooth versions were being pushed. This was back when BT was awful and getting one with a CD cost more, it was worth it.

[King Postwhore]

I had a $400.00 blaupunkt cassette radio with $250.00 JBL speakers in my $400.00 car. Lol. My first car. 

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I had a $400.00 blaupunkt cassette radio with $250.00 JBL speakers in my $400.00 car. Lol. My first car.

That sounds like my first car. I bought the car for about $500 and then proceeded to put about $3000 into the Stereo deck, speakers, amps, and subs. 

[JayOctavarium]

The state of this thread

[faizoff]

BTW WTF is The Walrus? Is that Kattlelox? people can just change their names on a whim?

[King Postwhore]

I had a $400.00 blaupunkt cassette radio with $250.00 JBL speakers in my $400.00 car. Lol. My first car.

That sounds like my first car. I bought the car for about $500 and then proceeded to put about $3000 into the Stereo deck, speakers, amps, and subs. 

Priorities!

[King Postwhore]

BTW WTF is The Walrus? Is that Kattlelox? people can just change their names on a whim?

Mods having fun in his Roulette.  Check it out. Lol

[TAC]

BTW WTF is The Walrus? Is that Kattlelox? people can just change their names on a whim?

He actually started out as The Walrus. Then he changed his name to Kattoelox.

[wolfking]

When I shop for a new car, first thing I'll be looking at is if it has a cd player.  I guess I use more USB's now anyway, but nothing like putting a new cd in the car and cranking it.

[faizoff]

BTW WTF is The Walrus? Is that Kattlelox? people can just change their names on a whim?

Mods having fun in his Roulette.  Check it out. Lol

Ah I see.

BTW WTF is The Walrus? Is that Kattlelox? people can just change their names on a whim?

He actually started out as The Walrus. Then he changed his name to Kattoelox.

Did not know that.

[HOF]

The state of this thread

I was just trying to make an analogy and it all went downhill from there I guess!

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Leave it to DTF to turn a discussion about something worrying into a discussion about car radios.

[cramx3]

I'm glad to see the page 1 posts of seriousness have turned into the typical DTF thread spin of silliness. 

As pretty much universally stated here, I'd be upset if this place ended.  Been around a long time and have real life friendships from this place.

Also regarding FB/reddit.  It's true that the internet traffic has shifted from traditional forums to social media platforms.  It's what the younger kids are into these days.  However, I wouldn't really compare DTF to r/dreamtheater.  It's two totally different animals IMO.  There's NOTHING personal about reddit.  Facebook is attached to your personal account so there's some personality to it, but even then, it's througha  dedicated group that doesn't allow you to express yourself. 

Discord is an emerging player in the scene.  It's being remarketed to get away from being just about video games (as it already is, but it's kind of known for gaming).  However, in large groups, it's really uninteresting IMO.  Discord channels quickly become unpersonal, but on a small scale are pretty awesome.  I'm definitely a fan and have been using it a lot more for different areas besides just gaming as I traditionally used it.

Anyway, glad to see this place isn't going anywhere soon

[JustJen]

Everything comes back into fashion sooner or later, and suddenly those who were uncool for a long stretch are the people who are in the forefront of the "new" trend. Similar to vinyl > cassette > CD > digital > vinyl.

Those other social media platforms will never have the personal touch of a forum like this, and I hope bosk compiles a list of people who have said they'd volunteer to help take over when he's had enough of running it because the day will come when a lot of people will realize that and come back, just like has recently happened with another of my hobby forums. They had a dead decade but kept on keeping on, and now people are starting to flow back in there for personal conversations and advice from elders who never left it.

I hope to see that here as well.

[Stadler]

I don't miss CD players at all. I installed a jack in my car and never looked back. Planning a road trip and having to take along a 50 disk spindle of CDs pissed me off to no end.

HAHA, I have a little box I bought from Ikea ($2.99, or something like that) that I use for that, but I hear you.

As for "priorities", I have a Jeep in my garage that I'm getting running for my stepson and his grandfather (while stepson is in Afghanistan) and while I was waiting for a deal on Craigslist for tires (mine were dryrotted, but I wasn't spending $1000 to refit a car that isn't even registered) I went to a pawn shop and found a decent Sony deck with Bluetooth and CD; added some inexpensive Pioneer speakers and new cable, and there you go.  Fucker doesn't drive but I can sit in my garage and bang out tunes like a boss.   Even have a remote control for the head unit!   Now, I'll keep an eye for a used but quality sound bar for the roll bar and I'll be in bizniss.

[T-ski]

The thought of the forum shutting down was concerning, but not having a CD player available when I need a new car is really going to piss me off.

[cramx3]

Blu tooth is so much better IMO. My car has no physical media other than a usb port and blu tooth but the blu tooth just works so seamlessly. I have my entire music library on a 256G microsd card on my phone. Putting that on shuffle is so much better than listening to the radio.

[MirrorMask]

My new car, bought last year, couldn't have a CD. I got used to the USB port, I can dedicate a pendrive to the car, but I'm annoyed that the car has adopted the "playlist" mentality, and I have to create a playlist each time I add new music.

PLAY - THE - M'FKIN - FOLDER  dammit!!!

I can't believe that for future devices and mp3 players I will have to investigate if there's a "play folder" option.

[Adami]

My new car, bought last year, couldn't have a CD. I got used to the USB port, I can dedicate a pendrive to the car, but I'm annoyed that the car has adopted the "playlist" mentality, and I have to create a playlist each time I add new music.

PLAY - THE - M'FKIN - FOLDER  dammit!!!

I can't believe that for future devices and mp3 players I will have to investigate if there's a "play folder" option.

You could just move from making folders to playlists. 

[The Walrus]

My new car, bought last year, couldn't have a CD. I got used to the USB port, I can dedicate a pendrive to the car, but I'm annoyed that the car has adopted the "playlist" mentality, and I have to create a playlist each time I add new music.

PLAY - THE - M'FKIN - FOLDER  dammit!!!

I can't believe that for future devices and mp3 players I will have to investigate if there's a "play folder" option.

You could just move from making folders to playlists. 

I've spent the last week starting and stopping an organization project that involves divying up my massive 4500-song 'favorites' playlist in Spotify into multiple smaller playlists. Problem is at some point I make soooo many playlists that trying to decide which songs go into which playlist(s) ends up in me panicking and quitting the project after making a couple dozen playlists for different styles/situations/moods. I have a problem too many genres/styles/moods to categorize, and some that don't fit anything, and some that are impossible to describe or label via a single genre name.

[faizoff]

I grew up making a ton of mixtapes and loved creating unique segues, trying to get as creative as possible. That said with the ease it is to do that now, I just don't do it.

I organize by album folders and just listen to them. If I do want to listen to individual tracks I just click through them as I rarely do that.